Chitwan District

Chitwan District

Chitwan District is one of the seventy-five districts of Nepal, a landlocked country of South Asia. The district is in the western part of Narayani Zone, Bharatpur (the seventh largest city of Nepal) is its district headquarters. Bharatpur is the commercial and service centre of central south Nepal, it is the merger destination for higher education health and transportation of the region. It covers an area of 2,218km² and has a population (2001) of 472,048.
Narayangarh, on the bank of Narayani River, is the main town with numerous shopping zones where people from all over the district and even from neighbouring district come to shop.
Now there are about 40 Village Development Committees (each of which has nine wards or villages) and one sub-Metropolitan city - Bharatpur and a municipality Ratnanagar each of which has more than nine wards or urban areas.
At the foot of the Himalayas, Chitwan is one of the few remaining undisturbed vestiges of the Terai region, which formerly extended over the foothills of Nepal.

ROYAL CHITWAN NATIONAL PARK

ROYAL CHITWAN NATIONAL PARK
Royal Chitwan National Park (RCNP) has long been one of the country’s treasures of natural wonders. The park is situated in south central Nepal, covering 932 sq. km. in the subtropical lowlands of the inner Terai. The area comprising the Tikauli forest - from Rapti river to the foothills of the Mahabharat - extending over an area of 175 sq. km. was declared Mahendra Mriga Kunj (Mahendra Deer Park) by the late King Mahendra in 1959. In 1963, the area south of Rapti River was demarcated as a rhinoceros sanctuary. The area was gazetted as the country’s first national park in 1973. Recognizing its unique ecosystems of international significance, UNESCO declared RCNP a World Heritage Site in 1984.
In 1996, an area of 750 sq. km surrounding the park was declared a buffer zone which consists of forests and private lands. The park and the local people jointly initiate community development activities and manage natural resources in the buffer zone. His Majesty’s Government has made a provision of plowing back 30-50 percent of the park revenue for community development in the buffer zone.